After more than a decade, the smoke is starting to clear and the land renowned as home to the country’s largest indoor marijuana grow operation will soon sprout something altogether different.
Plans are well underway for the construction of an 181,000-square-foot, two-storey distribution facility on the old Molson brewery site on Big Bay Point Road overlooking Highway 400.
“It was available. Our tenant was interested in being in Barrie, so those two things came together very nicely,” said Sean Ford, a partner at Dancor Construction.
But just what company the facility is being built for, what they will be distributing, and what jobs will be created through its development remains under wraps.
What Ford did say is that preliminary permits have been obtained and the steel work is expected to begin in weeks.
The hope is that the building will be completed by June 2021 and employ up to 2,000 people through the construction process.
The facility itself could open as soon as the following fall.
Site work has been ongoing for several months, he said. Although the property itself required little work beyond grading.
The former Barrie brewery was demolished almost a decade ago and the land was largely tied up in criminal forfeiture proceedings from the grow-op case.
Following a lengthy forfeiture hearing, a judge determined that the Crown failed to connect the owner of the property to the massive illegal pot-growing facilities developed inside the massive complex and the case was dismissed.
The former owner, Fercan Development, is now suing the Crown for $16.5 million for abuse of legal process and public office and civil conspiracy as well as negligence for malicious, wrongful, or negligent investigation and prosecution for trying to seize the land.
The Attorney General of Canada was asking the Ontario Court of Appeal on Wednesday to dismiss the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Dancor is involved in a residential development in the Stayner area. Much of its work is concentrated in the Greater Toronto Area with developments in Whitby, Vaughan and Brampton, and its largest portfolio is in London.
Ford says the company has been looking to get into projects a little farther afield for future industrial projects either for sale as a general contractor or as a landlord.
“As a natural progression of looking at land availability in the Greater Toronto Area, our sights were set farther,” said Ford.
Dancor is the builder and the landlord of the Barrie site, which it acquired in May.
The Barrie distribution centre will sit on 22 acres of the 35-acre piece of land. The remainder is expected to be developed according to demand.
Given the limited amount of industrial land available in Barrie, Ford hopes that other opportunities will soon follow.
“The city has been really marvellous to work with,” said Ford, adding further permits are in the works. “The City of Barrie, it’s been our experience, is absolutely open to business and have really worked hard to make things as easy as possible, especially during COVID.
"City hall was closed and people, even though they were working from their homes, were in touch with us on a regular basis and really didn’t miss a beat," he added.
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